Importance of Using Your Asthma Medicine

In the article below, published in December 2011 in the Journal of Clinical Allergy and Immunology, researchers at Henry Ford Hospital studied inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use and risk for asthma attacks.

They closely monitored ICS use in asthmatic patients over two years on average. Researchers found that as patients used less of their ICS, they experienced more asthma attacks, and vice versa. “…Every 25 percent increase in ICS adherence was associated with an 11 percent decrease in asthma attacks.”

The study showed that patients must use at least 75% of their prescribed dose in order to achieve a significant reduction in asthma attacks, however. And that not taking your inhaled corticosteroid as prescribed is a major contributor to serious asthma attacks.